Table of contents for September 2016 in Guideposts

Family Matters Ben Utecht (page 34) played five years as a tight end in the NFL, won a Super Bowl with the Colts and sustained five concussions that ultimately ended his career and changed his life. Now he’s written a song about his experience. See our exclusive video at guideposts.org/utecht. Stress Less in September The lazy days of summer are over, but there’s no need to stress! Learn to bring more balance to your life at guideposts.org/stresstips. Back to School Everyone remembers having a favorite teacher. Check out our uplifting quotes about educators at guideposts.org/teacherquotes. A Blessed Labor Day What does the Bible say about work? Plenty. Find out at guideposts.org/workverses.…

Recent news stories and a 2015 Hollywood film, Concussion, have brought to light the dangers of brain injuries in contact sports, especially football. In organized high school sports, football accounts for more than 60 percent of concussions. The NFL reported 271 concussions in 2015, and nearly 40 percent of retired NFL players have described symptoms of traumatic brain injury. After football, hockey has the highest concussion rate. College basketball has also seen steady increases in the injury. Repeated concussions have been linked to memory loss, problems focusing, dementia, fatal blood clots and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease. The American Academy of Neurology concluded in 2014 that wearing a helmet reduced the risk of traumatic brain injury by only 20 percent. With milder concussions, symptoms like dizziness, blurred vision…

tHERE WAS NO MISTAKING HIS face in the video clip playing on my computer: Joey. And there was no mistaking my feelings. I hated him. To be honest, I wanted him dead. I’d even thought about killing him myself. It was a good thing I was at work, because I felt like screaming, throwing something, smashing my fist through the screen, through his face. An eye for an eye, the Bible says. I didn’t always feel that way about Joey. He was my son Tyler’s friend. They met Tyler’s senior year of high school. Joey was well-spoken and polite. He came from a tight-knit churchgoing family. But all that wasn’t enough to keep him from trying heroin. Then he got Tyler hooked. And then my son died. A local TV…

MUSHROOM HUNTING. ONE OF the few things my dad and I really enjoyed doing together. It wasn’t that I loved mushrooms all that much. But Dad was crazy about morel mushrooms, and I loved having time alone with him, just the two of us foraging in the woods. Spring was the season for morels in our part of Missouri, but their appearance depended on so many variables— air temperature, ground temperature, rain levels—that I never knew exactly when our expeditions would happen. I waited eagerly for those once-in-awhile days that Dad deemed just right. The ground had to be warm and moist and the brush not yet grown too thick. Then he would lace up his work boots, stuff a bag in his pocket and head out. If I was…

I was walking through Penn Station when a woman came up to me and said, “Hey, you’re the Guideposts guy, right?” This sort of thing rarely happens to me, especially in New York, so I was a bit taken aback. Finally I said, “Well, if you say so!” “I’m so sorry I can’t remember your name, but I remember a story you told in Daily Guideposts this year. You were hiking with your dog—I remember her name, Millie—when you tripped and gave yourself a black eye. You thought Millie looked at you like that’s what you get for trying to walk on just two legs. That was funny! Then you bought a crazy pair of sunglasses so people wouldn’t stare at you until your wife, Julee—see, I remember her name…

COLOR ME CALM My friend Cathy looks out for me since she knows I struggle with anxiety and depression. She pays attention to my feelings and is quick to offer encouragement when I need it. But I was surprised when she sent me a package of coloring books and colored pencils. I’m in my thirties— I couldn’t remember the last time I’d colored! Cathy said she’d heard the activity was good for reducing stress. I thought, Why not give it a try? Cathy was right. It calms me down. I get lost in the colors, and my problems fade into the background. I like coloring so much that I’ve downloaded an app on my phone that lets me color on the go. And I’ve started telling everyone I know about…

I snuck into our village in the dark of night, taking the back roads to avoid being spotted by Communist soldiers. My mother’s house was ahead. I could see it clearly. I needed to let her know I was okay, and to make sure she was too. Suddenly, a light pierced the darkness. The beam swept in my direction. Someone shouted. I ran as fast as I could. I had to get to my mother. The soldiers were faster—they were right behind me… I awoke with a jolt. Sweating, out of breath, as if I really had been running. But it was only a dream. It was the fall of 1949, shortly after the Communists completed their sweep across the Chinese mainland and declared themselves the People’s Republic of China.…

Just a few days until the big move. Our house is in boxes. Frances has finished her last gymnastics practice. Benjamin has bid goodbye to his kindergarten classmates. Soon we’ll be 3,000 miles away, in the middle of New York City, about as different from our quiet suburban life as you can imagine. We walked in Santa Cruz, California, breathing cool, salty Pacific Ocean air. We were certain God was calling us East. We trusted he had good reasons for the move. Or did we? I had an indelible memory of the morning when, out for a run in the predawn dark, I felt God say, Go. I will be with you. Yet, still, I wondered. Suddenly, we noticed everyone on the bluff-top stop and point out to sea. We…

ON MAY 22, 2011, THE CITY OF Joplin, Missouri, was decimated by one of the most catastrophic tornadoes in American history. More than 1,000 people injured, 158 people killed, countless buildings destroyed. George Lombardi, the director of the Missouri Department of Corrections, called me a couple of days afterward. “This looks like a war zone, Bryan,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. These people are really going to need some serious help, especially after the FEMA trucks roll out. Do you know of a play that would be good for them?” A play? A work of art? For people reeling from a natural disaster? That might sound like an odd question, but George knew me well. For a couple of years I’d organized readings of ancient Greek tragedies…

A FRIEND INDEED Four weeks in the hospital had eased my depression enough for me to go home, but I was feeling far from well. The medications I took made it hard to think clearly. I was happy to be with my husband, Larry, and my three-year-old daughter, Jordan, but afraid of slipping back into that dark hole again, especially when Larry wasn’t with me. When he left for work in the morning the day seemed to stretch out forever. I’m so lonely, God, I thought at those times. There were many things I wanted—to get better, to be a good mother and wife. But sometimes what I prayed for most was a friend. On a whim—or perhaps out of desperation—I signed Jordan and myself up for a music-appreciation class…

TWENTY-FOUR YEARS AGO I started AmeriCares, a relief organization that distributes critical medicines and medical supplies to the world’s poor in times of disaster. Since then we’ve distributed some five billion dollars in aid to people in 137 countries. It’s an amazing number. I can’t quite believe it. But maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. I often had to raise that money myself (I have asked for funds from some of the biggest corporate CEOs in the country). I had to learn how to be a beggar— and I learned it from the very best. “Bub,” she called me. With her thick Albanian accent she could never quite pronounce my name. She was tiny— not even five feet—but not frail. And she never slowed down. I have a photo of the…

“Everyone looks so much be_er when they smile.” JIMMY FALLON, comedian and late-night TV host “It is easier to leave angry words unspoken than to mend a heart these words have broken.” submitted by GUIDEPOSTS reader ROSEMARY VANGEN, of Albert Lea, Minnesota “Everybody is God’s somebody.” submitted by GUIDEPOSTS reader CAROLL MCNUTT, of Columbia City, Indiana “Whoever brings you the most peace should get the most time.” Minister REV. RUN, of the pioneering hip-hop group Run-D.M.C. “There is no force in the world be_er able to alter anything from its course than love.… Meeting the world with a loving heart will determine what we find there.” GREGORY BOYLE, Jesuit priest and founder of a gangintervention program. See his story in our February 2011 issue “There is a fountain of youth:…

I should have known there was something wrong with me when I sustained my fourth concussion. It was the 2007 season, my fourth year in the NFL as a tight end for the Indianapolis Colts. We were the defending Super Bowl champs. In a game against the Denver Broncos, I was blocking for our running back. A Broncos defensive back leaped over me, trying to get to the ball carrier. His foot clipped the back of my helmet. I only know what happened next because I watched it on film. I crumpled to the ground. Ten seconds later, I jumped up and sprinted to the sidelines, where I talked with my teammates and a doctor, who pulled me from the game. I had no memory of any of it. I’d…

If you’re around 40 or your parents are around 70, experts say, it’s time to talk about topics such as living choices, health, finances, driving and end of life. As Peter Biro discovered, though, family conversations about aging are often prompted by an emergency. And it’s hard to make the best decisions during a crisis. Home Instead Senior Care worked with a University of Arizona professor, Jake Harwood, Ph.D., who specializes in communication between age groups, to develop these tips for communicating with aging parents on sensitive subjects: Get started. Observe carefully and gather information with an open mind. Don’t reach a conclusion based on a single incident. Talk before a crisis occurs. Go in with the attitude of working together to find a solution. Discuss what you’ve observed. If…

M y newly adopted daughter shook her head and hurled the book across the room. At 18 months old, Dari still wasn’t talking much, but she knew how to tell me no. “Dari, we don’t throw books, okay?” I said. I picked it up and held out my arms. “Here, I can read it to you.” Dari turned away, pattering over to a toy. If she couldn’t play with a book, she wanted nothing to do with it. I got the message. But I didn’t want to believe it. I love books. Reading to my sons— Dash, 16, and Phineas, 5—was the part of motherhood I’d cherished most. Books were the way we bonded. I’d started reading to Dash when he was still in the womb. Once he was born,…

CAN DO Bob Purnell’s Someone Cares story in the January 2016 issue about filling empty coffee cans with items for homeless people gave me an idea. I told Stacey, my boss at Positive Paws K-9 Training and Doggy Daycare, about Bob’s story, and suggested we do a dog version. We collected soup cans, painted them, and filled them with a variety of doggy treats and a brochure with information about our services. We delivered them to shelters to give to new dog owners. There’s so much to think about when you take a shelter dog home— we hope we give adopters one less thing to worry about. Besides, what dog doesn’t like treats? ROBBI BLACKBURN Waynesboro, Virginia DAILY GUIDEPOSTS ROCKS! I open a lot of reader mail here at Guideposts…